Minister of Displaced Persons Issam Sharaf al-Din described the government as "a barrier to business rather than a facilitator of operations, from the crisis of financial stamps to useful matters, mechanics, real estate departments, and maritime property." He stated, "I am reluctantly present in this ministry." He clarified that there is no plan to repatriate the displaced to their homeland, and "what Minister Abdullah Bou Habib presented at the Brussels conference and was discussed in the last session was a series of demands put forth by Lebanon only, which were not agreed upon with the commission contrary to what President Najib Mikati said, while the European Union is still holding to its position of rejecting the return of the displaced to their homeland."
He emphasized "the importance of establishing a tripartite committee that includes the Lebanese and Syrian sides, in addition to the UN Refugee Agency, which has rejected this due to external pressures." He pointed out that "the data provided by the commission is incomplete and there is a waste of time; the commission has become the problem instead of being the key to the solution." He also labeled the one billion euros as a bribe to keep the displaced and turn us into border guards.
He called for "establishing a Lebanese-Arab-international lobby to pressure foreign entities to relent in their obstinacy on this file, lift the siege on Syria, and facilitate the return of displaced individuals who wish to return or ease the transition for those wishing to seek asylum in countries that accept them, as Lebanon is a transit country, not an asylum country. As for those wishing to stay in Lebanon, they must adhere to all Lebanese laws to legitimize their presence."
